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Council of Godheads (Earth-616)
| Aliases = The Council Elite, Council of God-Kings, Skyfathers, Godheads, Sky-Lords, the Thunderheads, All-Fathers | Status = Active | Identity = Secret | Universe = Earth-616 | BaseOfOperations = Various, ranging from Asgard to an unnamed neutral realm between their dimensions to Earth | TeamLeaders = Odin, Zeus, Vishnu | CurrentMembers = Agni, Ahura Mazda, Altjira, Amaterasu, Ammon Ra, Anansi, Baiame, Brahma, Dagda, Itzamna, Izanagi, Manitou, Nyambe, Osiris, Shiva, Svarog, Tame, Tezcatlipoca, Ukko, Viracocha, Vishnu, Yu-Huang | FormerMembers = Anu, Athena, Balder, Hera, Hercules, Thor | Allies = Atar, Ndriananahary, Shou-Hsing | Enemies = Celestials, Atum the Demogorge, Skrulls | Origin = | PlaceOfFormation = | PlaceOfDefunction = | Creators = | First = Thor #300 | Last = | HistoryText = The Council of Godheads, also called the Council Elite or the Council of Skyfathers , is a loose committee of the leaders of the Earth's pantheons of Gods designed to gather information and share consultation upon menaces or threats which no single pantheon of gods can handle alone. Coming of the Celestials Following the war between the Asgardians and the Olympians , Odin learned of the coming of the Third Host of the Celestials, alien beings of inconceivable cosmic power who had influenced the evolution of the Earth’s human race and intended to judge humanity’s worthiness to survive when the Fourth Host came. Odin had contacted Zeus, ruler of the Olympian gods, and they then met with the ruling gods of Earth’s other pantheons to set a course of action. This would be the first such gathering of the Council. Odin, Zeus, and the Hindu god Vishnu then confronted the Third Host, which threatened to seal off the inter-dimensional passages between the gods realms and Earth unless the gods did not interfere with the Celestials’ activities for a millennium. Acting on behalf of Earth’s gods, Odin, Zeus, and Vishnu agreed with their terms, but Odin already began making plans for the Fourth Host, which would arrive about a millennium later. He constructed a suit of armor with nearly invincible powers called the Destroyer, and transformed the Rhinegold Ring-Halves into the Oversword of Asgard. Frigga and the other leading goddesses of Earth’s pantheons took charge in finding Earth’s human beings who were as close to genetic perfection as possible over these centuries. After the coming of the Fourth Host of the Celestials, Odin withdrew all the life essences of the Asgardians except Thor into himself. Then Odin’s spirit entered the Destroyer, animating it, and Odin thus did battle with the Fourth Host. The Celestials annihilated the Destroyer, but judged in humanity’s favor when the Earth goddess Gaea presented them with twelve genetically advanced human beings, the “Young Gods.” The chieftains of the other pantheons of Earth granted the power to restore Odin, who then revived the Asgardians. The God-Eater In later years, the Council has been called together by Zeus, Odin or others to face potential threats. After Hades, the Olympian god of the dead, entered into a pact with other gods of the dead to extend their respective reigns, they accidentally succeeded in restoring the primeval entity known as Demogorge the God-Eater to life, which then proceeded in consuming the respective gods which it had confused as demonic beings. Odin then called upon the gods of earth to each send a champion to confront Demogorge who then turned on them as well. Consumed himself, the thunder-god succeeded in reversing the creature's palate and was able to save himself and the other consumed gods. Infinity Gauntlet Sometime later, Odin and Zeus again gathered the respective sovereigns of the pantheons of earth to discuss the threat that Thanos posed with the Infinity Gauntlet, a device with extra-ordinary cosmic power to restructure reality. Previously, the group had met physically in a neutral realm adjacent to their separate worlds, but this time, they met in Asgard and were stranded here as Thanos set the realms of the gods off the Celestial Axis. Nevertheless, Thanos was defeated by recurring waves of forces ranging from the costumed champions of Earth, the gods of Earth, and to the cosmic forces of the universe itself. Secret Invasion convenes a Council of Godheads to discuss the impending threat of the Skrull invasion.]] In their most recent gathering, the Council of Godheads, united by the Dreaming Celestial in San Francisco, was called forth by Athena, the Olympian Goddess of Wisdom, to be told of the impending Skrull threat posed by their imminent invasion. Fearing that the shifting of the cosmic axis would replace them with a new pantheon of alien deities and prompt the Demogorge to lay waste to them all, the Earth gods chose to counter this new threat by following Athena's proposed strategy of journeying to the realm of the Skrull Pantheon and eliminating them there, while the remaining heroes of the planet, combined with any of their alien or extradimensional allies, joined forces in hopes of repelling the threat directly through force. The "God Squad" was chosen, comprising of Hercules, Snowbird, Ajak, Atum, and Amatsu-Mikaboshi, as well as boy genius Amadeus Cho, mortal companion of Hercules. The Council urged the god-heroes to reach Nightmare to attain a map of the route to the Skrull deity world, and though their own souls were nearly lost, Mikaboshi's magical trickery succeeded in fooling Nightmare long enough to find the map with no cost for the God Squad other than their own temporary suffering and more long-lasting mental scars from the traumatic experiences within themselves. Though both the Demogorge and Ajak fell before the might of the Skrull gods before their final confrontation, Hercules, Amadeus and Snowbird survived to return to Earth, while Mikaboshi, thought to be slain by the surviving God Squad, became free of the Kami and seized control over the enslaved Skrull deities, upsetting the invasion, as well as damaging war morale for the Skrulls, who no longer possessed their core inspiration for their religious war, all according to Athena's plan. | Equipment = The Council has access to the combined total resources of all the dozens of Earthly pantheons, including everything found in their native dimensions, which they can use at their disposal if needed. | Transportation = | Weapons = | Notes = Each member of the Council possesses magical and cosmic power on a scale comparable to even the Elder Gods and certain cosmic beings, far dwarfing that of a Sorcerer Supreme's might. | Trivia = Odin moved into the afterlife after the end of the Ragnarok Cycle to prevent Surtur from returning to again attempt to destroy the Earth. It is unknown whether the other members of the Council of God-Heads still consider him a member of their gathering. | Links = }}